Dissertation com okt 2003 (6 résultats)

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware - This thesis traces the historiography of antebellum reform from its origins in Gilbert Barnes's rebellion from the materialist reductionism of the Progressives to the end of the twentieth century. The focus is the ideas of the historians at the center of the historiography, not a summary of every work in the field. The works of Gilbert Barnes, Alice Felt Tyler, Whitney Cross, C. S. Griffin, Donald Mathews, Paul Johnson, Ronald Walters, George Thomas, Robert Abzug, Steven Mintz, and John Quist, among many others, are discussed. In particular, the thesis examines the social control interpretation and its transformation into social organization under more sympathetic historians in the 1970s. The author found the state of the historiography at century's end to be healthy with a promising future.…

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware - This dissertation describes work performed at the Palomar Testbed Interferometer (PTI) during 1998-2002. Using PTI, we developed a method to measure stellar angular diameters in the 1-3 milli-arcsecond range with a precision of better than 5%. Such diameter measurements were used to measure the mass-radius relations of several lower main sequence stars and hence verify model predictions for these stars. In addition, by measuring the changes in Cepheid angular diameters during the pulsational cycle and applying a Baade-Wesselink analysis we are able to derive the distances to two galactic Cepheids (h Aql & z Gem) with a precision of ~10%; such distance determinations provide an independent calibration of the Cepheid period-luminosity relations that underpin current estimates of cosmic distance scales.Second, we used PTI and the adaptive optics facility at the Keck Telescope on Mauna Kea to resolve the low mass binary systems BY Dra and GJ 569B, resulting in dynamical mass determinations for these systems. GJ 569B most likely contains at least one sub-stellar component, and as such represents the first dynamical mass determination of a brown dwarf.Finally, a new observing technique, dual star phase referencing, was developed and demonstrated at PTI. Phase referencing allows interferometric observations of stars previously too faint to observe, and is a prerequisite for large-scale interferometric astrometry programs such as the one planned for the Keck Interferometer; interferometric astrometry is a promising technique for the study of extra-solar planetary systems, particularly ones with long-period planets.…

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware - Personal impurity caused by childbirth, menstrual blood or death is an issue of concern prevalent in many cultures. In Japan, the generic term for these kinds of impurities is kegare and death impurity, a sub-type of kegare, is known as shi-e. The major topic of this book is death impurity. The definition and genesis of shi-e are explained. In addition, details of the influence shi-e had on ancient Japanese society as well as its continuing influence on modern Japanese society are given. Three hypotheses are stated and supported: (1) the shi-e concept began in Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BC - 300 AD) rather than at a later date as previously hypothesized; (2) the basis for the aversion to dead bodies, i.e. shi-e, is that corpses remind people of the fact that they will soon die; (3) Buddhism and Shintoism merged in Japan because of the impact of shi-e on Shintoism. This book concludes with some comments on the relevance of knowledge of the death impurity for students of Japanese history, culture and society.…

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware - Communication is frequently identified in the literature as a major factor impacting Information Technology (IT) project failure. The importance of communication is amplified in buyer - seller relationships through the long-term impact of project failures on the future business of IT vendors with their customers.The formal communication between IT project sponsors from buyer firms and project managers from IT vendor firms within business to business markets is investigated through this study. Typical communication patterns between project sponsor and manager in high and low performing projects are identified. The antecedents of these patterns are assessed and the effectiveness of project sponsor - manager communication investigated. A multi-method approach is used with a quantitative analysis of a worldwide survey with 200 responses, followed by a qualitative analysis of three interviews with pairs of project sponsor and manager, each pair from the same project.Results show that project sponsors expect more analytic and verbal communication from project managers. A model shows the development from frequent informal communication to formal communication between project managers and sponsors. A second model shows how communication in high performing projects is determined by the level of collaboration between project managers and sponsors, as well as the degree of structure in project execution. Effectiveness of project sponsor and manager communication is found to be decreased through written statements about recent achievements, and increased through face-to-face meetings of the parties. A series of recommendations is provided to improve project sponsor - manager communication.…

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware - The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the organisational problems, and in particular the leadership problems, of self-help groups in Japan for parents whose children have intractable diseases.Since 1993, I have been involved with these parent groups, and have conducted three sorts of qualitative interview: thirteen informal conversational interviews, four focus group interviews, and fourteen guided interviews, involving the members of twenty-one parent groups. Part of the research was carried out as participatory action research in which a research team was formed and authorised by the parent groups.My findings have shown that the groups' most serious problems lay not outside their groups but within, with the shortage of suitable leaders who volunteered in the activities. Three different sorts of account were given concerning the leadership shortage. They included justification, accusation and exposure: the participants claimed that taking care of ill children caused the leadership shortage; selfish members created it; or the determination of older leaders to remain at the helm prevented new members from becoming leaders. Cognitive maps have been drawn of these situations.I have explained the theories behind the free-rider and social loafing problems, and the leadership traps confronting the parent groups, and have applied attribution theory to the results. I have discussed the practicality of consultation for group leaders, and argued that organisational socialisation should be activated in the parent groups while propounding the island-within-a-lake model of parent groups. Methodologically, I have discussed social research within Japanese culture and the ethical issues pertain to participatory action research.…

Taschenbuch. Etat : Neu. Neuware - Adventure-based training has become an effective medium for delivering experiential training programs within a variety of disciplines such as; school outdoor education, corporate teamwork development, youth at risk and psychological counseling. In addition, Meyer & Wenger (1998) and Meyer (2000) were instrumental in pioneering research in to the efficacy of adventure-based training with sporting teams. This investigation adds to the growing body of knowledge in this area by demonstrating the positive effects an adventure training intervention has on athletes ability to learn new team and psychological skills. In addition, results indicated that individual and team performance might have been enhanced because of skills learnt during the intervention. This study examined the impact of an adventure-based training intervention on the group cohesion and psychological skills development of elite netball players. Data was gathered using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies. Many researchers are of the belief that the two methodologies compliment one another and thereby strengthen the total research model (Henderson, 1993). A phenomenological approach to qualitative data collection was followed based on the work by Dale (1996). Knowing how the intervention impacted on the participants from their perspective, is a critical question often overlooked by researchers. Results clearly indicated how athletes changed and developed during and after the intervention. Improved cohesion around task issues was especially evident, along with enhanced mental skills to handle the pressures of major competition. Lewin s change theory was examined to explain the learning process; modifications to this theory were suggested. Recommendations were outlined for improving sport psychology teaching practice, along with improved facilitation of adventure programming. …